


Imperfect Beings

by Serriya (Keolah)



Series: For Order and Justice [8]
Category: Freelancer, Geneforge, Rifts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Genetic Engineering, Humanoid Animals, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-07-03
Updated: 2006-07-03
Packaged: 2017-12-09 07:30:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/771631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Serriya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A wolfen investigates a group of unethical scientists who are attempting to create the perfect being -- to serve them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Return to Epsilon

Sharra loped back to the ship and ducked through the hatch along with Jenna. Zillah had got some music going and was munching on a big bowl of carrots with ranch dressing. She waved at them when they came in.

"So how goes your exile on this hotbox world?" Sharra teased, climbing back into the cockpit and taking a seat. "Find anything interesting while we were trudging through the desolate wastes?"

"I found out some about the future of the Jordan project," Zillah said. "Apparently I'm the last Jordan. Guess they ran out of letters," she snickered. "They're starting up a new line, the Kelly line, this time with males. The first one is named Aaron Kelly."

"Did they now?" Sharra replied quietly. "Toss that over my way, would you? I'd like to see just what that particular group is up to just now."

She'd also like to find out who was active in it and any hints as to their whereabouts. The first two avenues of concern had been addressed, and that left this particular project looming out there.

Zillah sent over the link to the site in question. It was very interesting, as they thought males might be less rebellious than females, but it was all at an "undisclosed location".

"Mmm," Sharra muttered, fingers tapping a staccato rhythm on one leather-clad thigh. "I want to find out who's involved in this and where. If their previous track record is any indication..."

Her eyes narrowed and she went to see if she couldn't find anything that might provide a link to the project.

They apparently didn't want any Imperial involvement in this project. One of them even expressed their fears on this clearly, "They'll shut us down for sure if they find us." Very suspicious behavior that if there ever was. It did very much look to be the same group that was working on the Jordan project, which they had now deemed a "failure".

"Failure indeed," Sharra muttered, and snorted. "It's not just the Empire they're going to have to worry about shutting them down." A soft growl emerges as she continues to look, though she doesn't have much hope of it, "There's got to be _some_ way to get at them..."

Jenna looked over the data as well and said, "They're being awfully paranoid about not giving out their location... That's a pretty good indication they're probably up to no good, right there."

"It is indeed," Sharra agreed, then turns a thoughtful look on the two of them. "You were both a part of their original project. Is there anything you can think of or remember that might point toward them? A name, a face, a place?"

Abram or Emily might know something as well, but she wasn't looking to head out that way again just yet. Jenna and Zillah happily supplied some names and faces of those involved in the project.

Sharra took that information and started pulling up what she could about them on the cybernet, whether from their own hand or by others that might give clues as to their current whereabouts.

She found a good deal of mundane information. Personal logs. Business transactions. Supply shipping... She found that one of them ordered an industrial replicator, several solar panels, and a number of canisters of raw materials to be sent to a remote system designated only as "C-35".

"Now that looks promising," Sharra murmured. "All the makings of a small personal research station, and in a location unlikely to be stumbled on by a wayward traveler or Imperial agent."

She checked on the numbered system in the navcomp to see if any data existed on it, and what travel time would be. There wasn't any information about the system in the computer, unfortunately. Either it was a remote, uncharted system, or C-35 was a codename and not the actual name of the star given on the starcharts. One had to wonder how the shipping company knew where to send the materials...

"Very interesting indeed," Sharra said to herself and tracks backward to identify the shipping company in question, along with a query as to where _their_ main offices can be found.

Their main offices were apparently located on Epsilon Station, and they advertised shipping to "anywhere in the galaxy, and then some".

Sharra snorted lightly. "Now why doesn't that surprise me? Okay, looks like we have a destination to start off with, back to Epsilon Station." Might as well see to some compound synthesis while she was there.

Zillah nodded, and put aside her carrots and set a course there. "What are we looking to find there?"

"Looks like one of the people involved ordered a few things to set up some research," Sharra replied. "But there's no information to be found on the system. The shipping company must have known where to take it if they wanted to get paid, though, and that's where their offices are. Convenient that they're in Empire territory now too, adds a little extra bargaining power for finding what we need."

Jenna said, "They'd have to know where to take the stuff."

Zillah settled in to finish her carrots once she got them set on the way there.

"Indeed they would," Sharra nodded. "Which will be easy enough to find out once we get there. The question is..." she settled in to searching through some Imperial legal codes, "What are we going to nail the researchers with to keep them locked up for a very long time?"

She'd do it legally if she could, but if not... well, sometimes right transcended the letter of the law.

"It sounds very much to me like they intend some form of slavery," Jenna said. "Even more so than the ones developing the sliths might have been. They clearly want their creations to be obedient to them, and consider them failures if they have a will of their own."

"Hmm, a good point," Sharra said. "The information did specifically touch on using males as they might be less rebellious..." she snorted disgustedly, "As if they didn't realize that intelligence alone is enough to make someone want to get away from this sort of thing. Probably be a good legal angle, though, as well as historical reference to some of the dangerous aspects of their former work."

Jenna nodded in agreement. "I don't know why they'd think men would be less likely to tell them to piss off than women would..."

"You'd think it would be just the opposite," Sharra nodded, then shrugged. "Ours not to wonder to the twisted logic of the thing, but to shut it down and make sure it doesn't get started up again."

The slith were one thing, they were a species that were being developed and would gradually be given greater intelligence, but to start off with a human and force them into a mold through various means? Despicable.

"I have no idea," Jenna said, sighing and leaning back.

Zillah proceeded to dig out some more reading material.

"Yet another example of the bizarre approach to science," Sharra chuckled. "Unfortunately, this particular band seems a bit more persistent and goal-oriented than the scatter-brained Klaus and Henderson. Makes them a lot more dangerous in the long run."

They headed on, arriving at Epsilon some while later, and Zillah brought them in for docking. Epsilon was quite on the ball still, contacting them the minute they emerged from hyperspace and directing them diligently to a docking bay.

Sharra headed back to snag one of the cylinders from her locker and dropped it into one of her coat pockets before heading out of the ship. It should be simple enough to arrange replication of the heavy metal slush and then go in search of the offices of the shipping company.

Jenna and Zillah climbed out of the hatch, Zillah bouncing around cheerfully and excitedly. This place was familiar enough to her that it was almost like coming home again.

Sharra grinned at the excitement. "Don't stray too far, now."

There might still be someone lurking out there with the intent to find her, though the likelihood was considerably reduced now that the project as a whole had been deemed a failure.

The place was clearly pretty well under Imperial jurisdiction now, though, though many of the patrollers they saw were wearing both the Death Dancer insignia and the Imperial crest.

With that sort of protection, only the crazed or the desperate would be looking to cause trouble here, and Sharra let the faint wariness slip away. There was business to attend to, and anything else could be left in station security's capable hands. She headed for a station terminal to find the two things that she was looking for.

They were not difficult to find. The heavy-duty industrial replicators were located on decks 22, 42, and 60, and Swyft Shipping's main offices were located on deck 19.

Easy enough, stop by the replicator on deck 22 first, then drop down a few to see to the more detailed project to be undertaken. Fixing the route firmly in mind, Sharra headed off. Zillah and Jenna head off to do whatever meanwhile, not feeling the need to tag along on these errands right now.

Deck 22 had a good number of industry and engineering activities going on. Sharra took a good look around, trying to figure out the way to go about this as she'd never been to this part of the station before. Self-service? Information booth? Shouldn't be too difficult to find out, she mused as she headed in.

The large replicator was immediately obvious, with one engineer currently using it to conjure up a pile of metal rods. It was a wide, slightly raised glowing circle in the center of the room, and once the rods materialized, the man hauled them away with an antigrav lifter.

Sharra looked around once more, then shrugged as she didn't see anything else immediately leaping out direction-wise and approached the device to do it herself. She knew the atomic composition of the slush and could provide any other details required, as well as the sample that she brought along with her.

There was a control console located conspicuously nearby, blithely waiting for input. The screen on the console said, "Idle" and "Please enter request". It also listed standard fees for "personal use", presumably to keep civilians from coming down here and hogging it all the time.

Oh, Sharra could see the reasoning to that, not to mention that some of the things that people might want to replicate would either be dangerous or not appropriate for a space station. Her own request was somewhat unusual, containing a rather complex chemical/metallic stew with a low-grade radioactivity, but she would pay the appropriate fee and draw on Imperial overrides as needed for permission.

The industrial replicator had a console and listed prices for personal and commercial uses, apparently there was a bulk discount too. The instructions were simple enough to give as Sharra had the specific formula stored, including a handy-dandy carry case for the standard orders she'd placed back home. She input the information, signing off where she needed to, applying what fees were required, and dealing with any inquiries which might be raised by the mild radioactivity of the slush in question. All-told, the order would come out to around five hundred pounds of high-density materials.

The replicator cheerfully processed her order and slowly materialized the material on top of the platform. "Order complete." the console displayed once it was done. Nobody in the room seemed to pay more than passing attention to her, as she didn't appear to be trying to make a nuclear bomb or anything.

Sharra assumed that the station would have some sort of controls for high-grade radioactive material, but fortunately the cylinders she used for repairs had only trace elements in no great quantity that the nanites drew energy from in their work. She trotted over to the platform and scooped the case up, then headed off to find a lift down to level 19 to see about this rather free-wheeling freight company.


	2. Ship Anything Anywhere

Swyft Shipping's main offices were located there on deck 19, and had some flashy signs outside advertising that they'd ship anything, anywhere, supposedly. That was probably a bit doubtful as evidenced by a smaller sign with fine print under it defining exactly what they mean by "anything" and "anywhere".

Sharra quirked a grin at the fine print, glancing over it briefly for amusement value regarding the promises that businesses made in order to draw in customers like flies. It was much the same anywhere, whether the lure was a delicious-looking meal that turned out to be wilted and soaked in grease or the devil hiding in the fine print. She headed into their offices and looks around for a receptionist or sales representative.

Apparently, "anywhere" meant "anywhere in this galaxy except places that cannot be easily reached by the jump gate network or jump drives", and "anything" means "anything smaller than a small moon that won't get us in trouble for sending places."

The grin shifted to a faint smirk as Sharra stepped in, thinking to herself that someone hadn't considered this particular freight order all that well. In truth, she probably couldn't blame them for it, all the things she'd seen on the list were relatively normal and within acceptable bounds, why should the company look to the end product? Gave her some leverage for finding out about the destination, though...

Past the transparent doors there was a reception area inside with a female rabbit at the desk, and several signs advertising Swyft Shipping's amazing services. Passing the advertising glut without a second glance, Sharra walked up to the reception desk and offered a nod in greeting.

"Good day," Sharra said. "I need some information if you'll be so kind as to direct me to the appropriate person to speak to."

"To place a standard order, ask me," the rabbit replied. "See Bob for unusual orders, Joe for shipping tracking, Tom for complaints, and Rick for anything else."

Sharra tilted her head in inquiry, a faint smile rising. "And would Rick be the one to speak with regarding a shipment with potential legal ramifications?"

"Yes, he's right down that hall," she pointed vaguely.

"Thank you," Sharra replied politely and walked off in that direction. She handled her recent acquisition carefully to avoid it clipping walls or anyone else since the weight was negligible to her but its mass would be somewhat inconvenient for others in an accidental brush. It would be amusing to see someone try a snatch and grab, though, she mused with a momentary chuckle.

Rick's office was another transparent door labeled "Richard Mayfield - Miscellaneous Matters." Sharra rapped lightly on the door, then walked in with a brisk, business-like attitude.

Rick looked up and said, "Ah, hello there. How can I help you?"

"My name's Sharra," she replied, smiling politely as she set the case lightly aside. "and I'll cut straight to the chase and add that I'm of the Empress' Own. I have an interest in one of the shipments that's recently come through your company."

He looked slightly worried. "Ah. Of course. Of what nature would this shipment have been?"

Sharra waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it, your company handled a legitimate cargo in good faith, all nice and legal on your side. The use it might be turned to, on the other hand, is a point of specific interest to me as the recipients are currently under investigation. I'm going to need whatever information you might have on a system labeled simply a C-35."

He pulled up his terminal and typed in the information. "Ah, the shipment for the new Cybion base? I have the relevant data here."

He showed her the terminal, indicating a system outside the main part of the galaxy. They might call systems the "fringe worlds", but this was _really_ out on the fringe.

"That's precisely what I need," Sharra affirmed absently, scanning the data, then shifted her attention back to him with a half smile. "I'd like a copy of this, if you don't mind, and I don't think I need to say that this comes under the Empress' seal in terms of keeping quiet, do I?"

"Certainly, certainly," he said, smiling brightly. "Always happy to help the Empire."

He might not be completely sincere about that, but underneath the false smile he was clearly terrified enough to cooperate anyway. As any business should be that relies on their government not only for the blessing of keeping its doors open but also for the patrols they put out into space to keep their goods flowing. Sharra wasn't a completely heartless bitch when it wasn't needed, though, and she offered a friendly smile.

"I appreciate it," she said. "I'll be sure to put in a good word about your company's cooperation and honesty when I file the final report."

He transferred over the information she requested and said, "Is there anything else you require at this time?"

"No, I think that'll do it," Sharra replied and retrieved the case, then dipped her muzzle. "Thanks for your help."

She headed back out, back toward the landing bay, and dropped a line on the cybernet to Jenna to say that she'd acquired what they'd come here for and could depart at any time. No rush, of course, as she had little doubt the Cybions would still be there even if they spent a few days here.

Jenna sent an acknowledgment and replied that they were currently up at the school training area. Sharra tilted her head thoughtfully at the reply, then redirected her path to meet them there instead.

Back up at the place where most of the children on the station go, she found Zillah talking with a group of kids ranging from six to sixteen, telling wild tales about her adventures as they listened wide-eyed.

Sharra didn't intrude, instead finding an unobtrusive place and resting against a wall to listen with a quiet smile. There had been a bit _too_ much adventure in some cases, but it was interesting to hear what the girl had taken out of them.

"Wow, that sounds really scary and neat," one of them said.

Zillah noticed Sharra there and grinned over at her.

Sharra's smile turned to a grin and she shook her head slowly. Ah, the energy and spirit of youth! She was looking at the next generation of explorers and defenders of this galaxy, and knew it wouldn't hurt for a little of the excitement that could be found out there to touch them. Where else did the dimensions find the heroes to stand in defiance of the darkness?

After telling them some more interesting stories while munching on a sandwich and chips, Zillah finished up and finished eating and headed over toward Sharra as the other children broke off to chatter amongst one another.

"Enjoy catching up with old friends?" Sharra asked.

It was good to see, and caused a hitch of guilt that she was responsible for separating the girl from an important part of growing up. Well, she had to admit with an inward smile, at least partly responsible as the decision hadn't been hers to make.

"Uh-huh," Zillah said. "When are we leaving?"

Sharra chuckled softly. "Are you so rushed to leave the company of your classmates?"

Zillah shrugged faintly.

Jenna, standing nearby also, chuckled softly. "It's a wonder you can sit still on the _ship_ , even," Jenna said.

A glance past showed Sharra the normal, day-to-day routine of the children that Zillah had been dealing with under the care of the Cybions, and she watched them silently for a long moment.

"I found out the location of our next stop," Sharra said suddenly, deliberately turning her attention from the sedate scene. "We can go at any time, though I wouldn't argue against a bit longer if you wished..." She turned a pointed gaze to Zillah.

"Well... I guess it couldn't hurt to stay a little longer?"

Sharra smiled and made a gentle shooing gesture. "Go on then, I'm sure I can find some paperwork that needs doing."

Zillah scurried off with the other kids.

Jenna chuckled softly as she went over to Sharra and said quietly, "So where is it we'll be going?"

"Middle of nowhere." Sharra snorted lightly, then jerked her head toward the door, "Let's get back to the Firefly and I'll show you what I found."

Jenna nodded and followed her out back toward the ship. Sharra uploaded the data to the ship's computer and set it the task of generating a flight path as she settled into a seat.

"Definitely a good spot to keep out of the Empress' eye," she said, "and a mention by the representative of the shipping company would seem to confirm it as a new Cybion base."

"That's definitely out there," Jenna observed. "Interesting. Looks like just knowing the coordinates is protected by beta-level Cybion clearance. Coincidence?"

"I don't believe in coincidence," Sharra replied. "Though a healthy dose of suspicion never hurts. What type of defenses do you think they might dredge out for something along these lines?"

"I really don't know. Over such a short notice? But perhaps they had this planned for some time as a fallback point if something went wrong..."

"Always a good starting place to assume the worst," Sharra said. "That way any surprises tend to be of the pleasant variety rather than the 'spread your atoms across a light-year' type. So, that in mind, any insights?"

"They might have anything from some simple mines to a full Death Dancer brigade, although that's doubtful."

"Mmm, if they're looking to keep a low profile, I don't think having that much of a defensive perimeter would be a good idea," Sharra said thoughtfully. "So, we're most likely looking at automated defenses and a small contingent of live targets, at worst..." She chuckled. "Unless something has gone seriously, seriously wrong."

"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, expect somewhere in between."

"Well, we're fairly well prepared for combat with the Firefly and three pilots," Sharra said, "and with the stealth system installed, any automated defenses should find it difficult to deal with our intrusion until we get into visual range."

Jenna nodded. "So, when will we leave?"

Sharra's ears twitched in thought and she sighed quietly. "A few hours at the least, I'd like to give Zillah more time than that, but..." She shook her head, a fond smile tilting her lips. "Better yet if she'd taken the offer of finding a nice, quiet place to do a bit of growing in, but I'll risk a few hours delay at the least."

"Well, at least with how remote they are, it seems pretty unlikely for someone to go in and blow them up in the meantime."

"I wouldn't mind terribly if we arrived to find them decimated." Sharra snorted. "Sift through the wreckage, make sure they're truly done for, voila! Easy way out. I doubt it's going to be that simple though."

A few hours later, Zillah returned to the ship after the other kids had gone to bed, although she wasn't alone. A short, hooded figure with purple skin and a long nose sticking out from under her hood was walking with her as they approached the ship.

Sharra wasn't immediately alarmed, but was cautious as to the nature of the newcomer and went out of the Firefly to meet them.

"Who's your friend?" she asked of Zillah, turning a series of scans on the being for basic physical information and signs of weaponry.

It wasn't a species she'd seen before in this galaxy, perhaps not even one native to this galaxy at all. The being was four feet tall, and apparently unarmed.

Zillah said, "This is Learned Tinden, the magic teacher up at the school."

"Ah, a pleasure to meet you," Sharra said, her reaction shifting from suspicion to one of polite welcome. "What brings you here? Some trouble...?" she trailed off, turning a questioning look toward Zillah.

Tinden inclined her head politely toward Sharra. "I must remark upon Zillah's mostly untapped 'psychic' potential as it is called in this universe. She is quite capable and strong. I imagine it's hereditary in this case, considering. Although it hadn't really fully manifested until puberty."

"I'd assume you had something more in mind than commenting to come all this way," Sharra replied with dry amusement, "and unfortunately that really isn't my field beyond knowing how to identify the various psionic and mystical potentials of those I deal with."

"Yes, I have noticed that you, also, are not a native to this particular universe," Tinden said. "And you have never seen a servile before either, I imagine."

"No, I'm not," Sharra grinned. "And no, I haven't, but that's not really too surprising. I have several thousand races catalogued and that's barely a scratch in the potential of the various dimensions out there."

"I came here to teach, and to learn. To save what I might of my people from the confusion Chaos wrought upon my world, from the madness of the Takers and the recklessness of the Rebels. Although I have dealt little with human mages in my time, and little enough of servile ones either, Zillah here... Be wary and watchful of her power, that it may not destroy her."

Sharra nodded once, then tilted her head. "I've seen what lengths people will go to in pursuit of their abilities and the purposes they can be turned to, so I have a notion of a path to guide away from, but is there anything else you might recommend?"

"My world was all but destroyed by greed and lust for power," Tinden said. "It escalated beyond control with many grabbing for power without realizing that it was consuming them, and that their power was controlling them rather than they controlling it. For all my teachings here I have made every attempt to ensure that such not occur here as well."

"I've seen similar events all too often," Sharra replied. "Psychic or magical potential don't necessarily bring any sort of inherent morality with them, and the users can be easily corrupted by harsh treatment or the promise of an easier path. That I don't have much worry of," she smiled at Zillah, "she has a good heart and head on her shoulders, and then there's someone around to make sure it stays that way."

Tinden nodded. "One can hope. But be wary nonetheless. Uncontrolled power can be extremely dangerous, especially in stressful situations. She has been trained well enough that she should not lose control completely except under very extreme circumstances, but it is possible even for the most well-trained mage to lose control."

"If I can keep her out of a situation that would lead to that, I certainly will," Sharra said, then smirked. "Though she's ever poking her nose into things and wanting a better look. Silly, curious girl."

Zillah looked innocent.

Tinden chuckled, and said, "I have given my warning. Should something of that nature occur and she become dangerously unstable, please bring her to me and I will do what I can for her."

Sharra snorted dismissively at the innocent look. "Better horns than a halo, methinks..." then chuckled quietly and offered a gracious nod to Tinden, "I do appreciate it and will remember, that was one aspect of things that I really wasn't sure what to do with."

"She has received sufficient training that she will not be an immediate danger to those around her," Tinden said, then turned to Zillah, "But if you desire to learn further, do feel free to come to me if you wish." She straightened her robes. "My methods are more along what is generally called 'magic' than what is called 'psionics' here, however the fundamental nature of it is the same, even if the methods differ."

It could all be classified as paranormal energy manipulation, Sharra knew, but there _was_ a distinct difference between the two varieties elsewhere... or, perhaps, stricter limitations placed on the user by the dimensional 'rules'. That she didn't know, or care to speculate on, sufficient that she did know what to keep an eye out for.

"At any time," Sharra directed to Zillah, tone firm, "Better that than anything happening to you."

Zillah nodded sheepishly and said, "Alright, alright."

Tinden smiled faintly and said, "I bid you good journey." She turned and headed off.

"Ready to put your horns back on and get on the road again?" Sharra asked after Tinden left, grinning.

Zillah said, "Yup. Let's go."

Zillah climbed aboard the ship brightly and back to the pilot's seat without another word. Sharra chuckled lightly and returned as well, sealing the hatch behind her and making sure the case she'd acquired was stowed safely away before heading back to the cockpit.

"New navigational information," Sharra said, sliding into a seat. "And that's our next destination."

Zillah nodded, and proceeded to take off and left the station and set a course for that location.

"Once we get there," Sharra said, turning a glance on Zillah, " _you_ will be staying on the Firefly, in the event we need to make a quick retreat."

There was more to it than that, since the people involved had also been responsible for Zillah's earlier years and Sharra wasn't going to leave out the possibility of physical mayhem in dealing with them. Nothing she'd want the girl to see.

Zillah nodded reluctantly. Since the system was so far out on the edge of the galaxy, it'd take a good several hours longer than usual to reach it. Zillah settled in for some "homework" for the trip.


	3. The Wake of Destruction

Sharra headed back in the ship to use one of the final cylinders she'd brought with her, then did a full system's check. Repairs were progressing nicely with the period of relative rest and relaxation. She dug a smooth-sided cube out of the hyper-dimensional space at the bottom of her foot locker, and returned to the cockpit to do a diagnostic run on it as well.

Time passed without any particular incident or unusual activity or findings. They left hyperspace and arrived in the C-35 system. There was the small station there, just as the Swyft Shipping records indicated. But sensors didn't seem to indicate that anyone was aboard, and readouts indicated some internal damage to the station.

"That's not particularly encouraging," Sharra murmured, examining the sensor returns. "Take us in slowly and do a full turn around the station for any visible signs of an attack. I'll keep an eye out for anything unsavory out here."

Zillah brought them in slowly toward the station. Judging from sensor readouts, if the station was attacked, it was attacked from the inside. There was no external signs of damage to the station. Perhaps it was merely an accident of some sort that required the station to be evacuated.

"Hmm, take us in for a landing," Sharra directed, standing, "then back off into space you go. I'd rather not take any chances of our options getting suddenly limited by something that might or might not still be alive or not showing to sensors."

Zillah nodded and docked at the station to let Sharra and Jenna climb out. The docking bay was empty aside from a few crates that seemed to have been left behind in a hurry. There were no other ships there.

Sharra moved quickly away from the ship and checked to make sure Jenna was clear, then transmitted, "Clear, keep a close eye out there."

Zillah nodded and cleared out of the docking bay and entered into a cautious orbit some ways away.

Jenna said, "Well, I don't see any bodies out here at least. Judging by the lack of ships here, I'd guess they evacuated."

"Yeah," Sharra nodded, keeping a cautious eye out. "But considering the kinds of experiments they do, I'm not going to place any bets on it being without something left behind. Looks like they were in a big hurry." She motioned to the crates as proof, then drew a weapon and moved toward the bay exit. "Let's see if we can't find what they were up to specifically."

When they came further into the station, they saw in the lobby and the entry office scorch marks on the wall, holes blasted in the walls, some of the metal looked as though it were melted, some of the equipment looked like it was electrocuted. There weren't any bodies out here at least.

"Looks like someone put up a fight," Sharra remarked, continuing cautiously through the outer areas and keeping an eye out for a terminal that would let them gain access to the station's computer records.

The outer halls appeared untouched aside from the lobby and the office itself. She located an undamaged terminal in one nearby office that was still running. Sharra headed for the terminal, setting the short rifle near to hand as she set about trying to gain access via neural link or more mundane methods.

"Let's see what we can find..."

There was no record of the station having been evacuated. The last log recording was a fairly mundane rundown of the day's events, discussing some fairly bland technobabble. The last log entry, notably, was from only around twelve hours previously.

"Twelve hours, that could put them just about anywhere by now," Sharra growled softly and left the terminal, turning a thoughtful look to their environs. "Well, may as well see if there's any traces of what caused the sudden evacuation, sudden enough that the damned station didn't even record it."

Jenna said, "Indeed. Maybe there's some security camera recordings somewhere. Best answer I suppose would be to check their main lab and see what the state of things is there... And judging by Cybions' usual experiments, I'm glad I don't need to breathe..."

"There are definite advantages to it," Sharra nodded in agreement, then smirked and glanced over at Jenna. "We can avoid the old horror movie cliche of splitting up, I think. Should be able to find the main lab without any real difficulty..."

She turned back to the terminal to get a map of the base. The map cheerfully displayed on the screen and Jenna headed in the direction of the main lab, which was certainly not hard to find. Even considering they could find it easily enough just following the trail of wreckage, as it led directly down there.

Oh that was certainly reassuring, Sharra muttered to herself, and continued onward along the path toward the lab. "Now, there's a couple questions to be asked," she transmitted silently over the comm to Jenna. "One, is whatever did this still functioning, and two, did it just develop an understandable aversion to Cybions or life in general?"

Jenna didn't have any answers just yet, opening the door to the main lab. Now they saw the main source of the destruction on the station. Broken glass and equipment lay strewn all over, blue and green fluids mingling with blood on the ground. Burnt and electrocuted bodies scattered the ground, the faces that were still intact wearing masks of surprise and terror.

Just as well Zillah'd been left on the Firefly, Sharra thought grimly and walked into the midst of the wreckage looking for clues as to the source of the destruction. Weapon fire? Claws? Chemical? It doesn't look like any of the above, precisely. Most of the damage looked to have been electrical, more or less, although Karzan weapons weren't generally known for shooting electricity much.

Sharra glanced over at Jenna, ears perked, "Are electrokinetics common in this galaxy?" It's a natural off-shoot of the psionics branch, often called 'zappers' on the worlds she's seen, and the Cybions had clearly worked on psychic potential before with Zillah as an example.

"Not really..." Jenna said. "None that I know of that could have done something like this, at least. They're more common with the Elkandu, though."

Jenna tried to see if there was any security cameras still intact enough to give any useful information.

"Hmm," Sharra muttered and went to take a look for any kind of research notes that might have been kept here.

She found a few datapads intact enough to read, but none of them said anything about developing people with heavy psionic potential, no mention whatsoever of anything like that.

Sharra was all too familiar with experiments gone awry, and dug through the notes just for an idea of what they _were_ intending to work on here. Their notes indicated their desire to produce a healthy, stable, and completely obedient boy. Because of this they were even being more conservative with their experimentations than usual.

"Think I've got it," Jenna said. "This camera looks pretty bad on the outside but the recording's intact."

Sharra downloaded the data anyway for further analysis by more specialized experts, then turned as Jenna broke in. "Can you access it?" she asked.

"Not from here, the terminals are too badly damaged and I don't have the equipment for it myself. Let's take it up to the terminal three decks up and access it from there."

"Let me see what I can do," Sharra offered instead. "I've programmed a lot of interface routines into the nanites over the years to get into places my bounties would rather I didn't."

Jenna chuckled, and nodded, handing over the data crystal she'd retrieved from the melted camera casing, and said, "Feel free to give it a shot, then."

Sharra took the crystal and peeled back a section of skin on one palm to rest it, analyzing it with her sensors, then set the nanites to work creating a temporary interface to download the data.

It took some while and for a while there it didn't appear that it was going to work, but then they managed it and it snapped into place. The data crystal did, indeed, contain a detailed and accurate display of what exactly happened in the lab, up until the camera got fried at any rate. It appeared that a woman wearing black leather and a Death Dancer insignia who bore some resemblance to Zillah and Jenna, came down here and started kicking their asses and yelling at them about how they abused her grandchildren.

Sharra's head tilted as she went back over the video stream again, comparing the image to references she had from other sources, then projected the sequence for Jenna. "Look like anyone you know?" she asked, though its clearly more rhetorical than anything else. "It would appear that someone beat us to the punch." It did definitely match up to the visual and audio recordings she has previously seen of Kalli May.

Jenna said, "My grandmother? What was she doing here...? Well, besides the obvious..."

"Good question, since she hasn't been seen in quite some time according to various sources," Sharra replied, then shrugged. "Either way it's apparently no longer our concern unless we can manage to track down the survivors, and I doubt they're going to raise their heads again any time soon."

"I would imagine they'd be so scared of being tracked down by pissed off Death Dancers that they won't try that again anytime soon... Shall we consider this one closed, then?"

"I'd say that's a safe bet for now," Sharra agreed, "though definitely something to keep an eye out for along the way. Now back off to the normal routine," she chuckled and headed back toward the landing bay, comming Zillah to go ahead and land again.

Zillah went to pick them up and asked, "What did you find? Why'd they run off?"

Climbing back into the cockpit, Sharra smirked. "It would seem your grandmother wasn't terribly happy with this group of Cybions." Had to give the woman credit for good taste, at the least.

Zillah departed the station and said, "So where to now?"

"Very good question," Sharra replied, stretching in her seat. "Something to think about as you get a bit of target practice on this station. May as well make sure they don't have anything to come back to."

Zillah grinned a bit, and proceeded to take the hint and reduced the station to bits of debris.

Sharra chuckled lightly at Zillah's exuberance. "Thought you'd like that."

She turned back to the cybernet again for any leads that might prove of interest in current events. The cybernet made no mention of Kalli May's return, which probably wasn't too surprising as they were a good 14 hours out from civilization and judging by the timestamps on the security camera, she must have only left here six hours ago at the earliest. Sharra left Zillah to her target practice and kept searching for a while, not particularly surprised by the lack of anything of real interest... they _had_ been somewhat busy lately.

"Hmm, nothing on the evening news," Sharra mused. "I suppose back to check in with high command and see if anything's needed there, then back off to wherever if not."

There was nothing urgent there either. There were certainly a few activities on the net that one might consider questionable, but nothing that immediately sprang out as a red flag. Sharra smirked to herself and took a few minutes to put together a pointless little program to access the navcomp.

"Seeing as there's nowhere that especially needs us..." Sharra said, flicking a basic map of the known systems to the display, "May as well let fate decide."

Sharra clicked the program into motion and a dart appeared at the bottom of the display, swerving this way and back before dashing forward to stick its point into... It randomly pointed straight to Epsilon Station, apparently.

"Didn't we just leave there?" Sharra growled in mock exasperation, then chuckled. "But so it goes. Maybe there's a litterbug that station security hasn't caught up with yet. Take us on back, Zillah."

Zillah chuckled, and set a course back for Epsilon Station.

Jenna said, "Eh, fair enough stopping off point for anything else near there. Maybe something will come up in the next 14 hours..."

"And if not," Sharra replied with a chuckle, "Then it would seem we are doing our job well."


	4. Crossing Paths

Sharra settled in for the trip back to Epsilon Station, taking the opportunity to sift through more data on this galaxy and its various factions, past and present.

There'd been a good deal more groups than one generally heard about. One such defunct group was the Hamilton guerillas, who fought to prevent their system from falling under Imperial control. Under the reign of the Empress Alisa, Imperial forces were withdrawn from the system and it allowed to be independent. But after the Usurper took power, the people of Hamilton were slaughtered and those who escaped fled to the fringe to join the rebellion.

Groups that were slaughtered didn't tend to make much of an impression in historical records, unless they did it in such a way that there was a public outcry or stupidity on such a gross scale that society _had_ to keep record of it... ostensibly for posterity, but Sharra thought it far more likely it was just for humor value. People were quite strange, after all. Somewhere along the way, repairs were completed and she sighed contentedly.

Apparently some note was made of it because of the particular courage and tenacity of the guerillas, also from a list of people from Hamilton, it appeared there was one Michael Pratt on that list, who was Kalli's husband, and hence would be the grandfather of Zillah and Jenna. Zillah sat quietly reading some dry science text or another.

Mildly curious, Sharra poked about for information on Michael Pratt, thinking it somewhat strange that this was the first time she'd heard of the man. The spouse of someone with such an influential and busy past was generally accorded somewhat more notoriety than the lack of reference would assume.

He was considered one of the greatest Death Dancers who ever lived, next to his wife, and to make that more remarkable, he was an ordinary, unmodified human. It noted that he lived into his 80s and the details of his death were classified. Naturally, though, with her Empress's Own clearance, she could get past the classification restriction easily enough and determine the means of his death at the El'dari temple.

Ah, Sharra nodded to herself, the slowing of old age and then stepping unawares into the snare of alien technology. Surprising that the woman hadn't decided on another by this point, but then dealing with the aging and death of a loved one was indeed a difficult trial as she could attest.

But then, who was she going to do it with? Alpha? Anyway. Time passed on and they arrived back at Epsilon Station without further incident. Things seemed quiet enough over there.

Sharra headed out of the cockpit as they landed. "May as well spend a few days here and keep an ear out for anything stirring..." She glanced back at Zillah and smiled. "Except for you, who will get to spend some time in a bit more formal study. Maybe Learned Tinden would be willing to help you out a bit?"

Zillah said, "Okay, okay..." She smirked a bit. Jenna chuckled softly at her enthusiasm.

"Want to get set up in some transient quarters on-station?" Sharra asked, heading back into the ship. "Or just bunk here when you need to? Either way's fine, just let me know so I can keep an eye out... I guess I'm a bit persistent that way." She chuckled.

"The ship's fine," Zillah said, grinning a bit, and collecting some things before heading off to the school.

Jenna said, "Well, shall we hang around the cliche bar and see if we can find out anything of interest?"

"You do that, you have more use for it than I do at any rate," Sharra smirked. "Marginally maybe, but still. I think I'll go sweep the underbelly of the station and see what I can dig up. Duct rats, dockworkers, the usual line of scum. We can trade off shifts, if you get _too_ bored."

Jenna chuckled, nodded, and headed off as well. Sharra almost let herself wish for something more interesting to do, then snorted in self-amusement as she paced off to go take a look around. Careful what you wish for! Besides, ninety percent of an enforcer's job was wandering aimlessly and making sure people didn't forget you were there, the other ten percent was hoping like hell they forget about it long enough for you to disable the switch before they could hit it.

The station seemed in well order, with the Death Dancers around keeping the peace. Nobody wanted to cause trouble with that many Death Dancers in range. The lower parts of the station contain some engineers cleaning up what appeared to be the remnants of some sort of experiment gone wrong, though it didn't appear to have been too recently, and they just got around to cleaning it up? Perhaps they were too scared to come down here.

The station definitely seemed to be taking a turn for the better as time went on, drawing fewer of the scum of the universe who tended to congregate at the fringes of society. Sharra walked through it all without comment or hesitation, settling into the old rhythm of leaving her senses tuned to the world around her as thought wandered a bit.

She came upon the station's arboretum, a vast chamber where trees, bushes, and flowers grow under artificial light simulating daylight. A man in a straw hat and dirty trousers was tending the plants, and a couple people could be seen sitting out in benches and near a small pond further on.

Hmm, nice enough place and with sufficient lighting to keep the average low-life at bay... they didn't tend to be the bravest sorts unless they were running in gangs, even then they scattered at the first sign of determined and able resistance. Sharra chuckled lightly to herself, amused at the assessment that came foremost in her mind, and continued across the section without any real interest.

One of those sitting there did catch her eye, however, matching up quickly to the one she had seen in the video recording on the C-35 station. Kalli was out sitting quietly underneath a large oak tree, leaning back against it and looking out at nothing in particular. Sharra's interest was somewhat perked at the identification and walked in that direction. She circled around and crouched nearby to get a roughly similar perspective and looked out.

"Hmm, strange, I don't see anything particularly interesting or dangerous that way. Am I missing something?" Why so contemplative, she wondered, the image she'd garnered from various sources tended more toward an activity level closer to Zillah's.

The direction she was looking in didn't seem all that interesting, aside from more trees, bushes, and flowers. Kalli interrupted her peering with saying wryly, "I'm not looking at anything in particular."

"No, I didn't suppose you were," Sharra grinned faintly. "But you have to admit it was an unusual opening conversational gambit, and how else does one approach the legendary General of the Dancers on the Edge of Death, the Commander of the Empress' Own, and the heroine of wide renown to the the entire Karzan Galaxy?" She smirked. "Though I suppose I could be honest and say it's nice to meet Zillah's grandmother."

Kalli smirked and glanced over at her, and said, "I'll presume you're Sharra. Talia told me all about you." Kalli was also apparently wearing a signet ring bearing Talia's insignia as well.

"That would be me," Sharra agreed with a ready nod. "Though it appears Jenna and I were running a little behind schedule when it came to clearing out the base in the C-35 system. A few hours at the least."

Kalli smirked. "Okay, so I was a wee bit annoyed at them. What would you have done?"

Sharra looked back in the direction that Kalli'd been gazing towards and answered quietly, "There was a reason I left Zillah circling in space beyond the station, Msr. Jordan. I have little love for the Cybions in question, and can only hope that the ones who escaped make a mistake which allows them to be tracked sooner or later."

"I let them go," Kalli said quietly. "They didn't deserve it. But the only ones who left were... unimportant. The secretary. The janitor. They didn't take any research away either."

Sharra considered that, then nodded and smiled crookedly. "Fair enough, I've gotten worse people off the hook lately for less." She shrugged. "Doesn't really matter now, then, looks like Zillah will be safe." Rocking back on her haunches for a moment in thought, she suddenly switched topic, "So what brings you out this way? Pretty quiet from all we've seen so far."

"Too quiet. That means the shit's about to hit the fan again," Kalli said, rolling her eyes. "My spider-sense is tingling."

"Never hurts to follow a hunch," Sharra replied agreeably. "Though I'd expect something a little further out considering the recent Imperial presence here and the pro-active stance the Empress has been taking in maintaining the peace."

"Now, if I knew just _what_ was going to happen, I'd be.. well, probably not any happier all things considered," Kalli said.

"Life would be boring if we knew what was going to happen and could always move to counteract it," Sharra replied quietly, then chuckled. "Peaceful and relaxing, maybe, but awfully dull."

"Eh, what can you do?" Kalli shrugged. "You don't think I was out of line back there..." she murmured quietly. "I don't generally get that angry about something... but I never knew just what they were... just what they were doing with my granddaughters..."

Sharra turned her muzzle to look at Kalli intently, her expression hard. "Out of line? Have you seen the list that they let Zillah have of all of their 'failed experiments' on the Jordan line? A _little girl_ had this list, and has to wonder just when _she_ is going to blow up or go insane. No, they weren't human, they were animals, and they _deserved_ to be butchered. I would have killed them myself. Gladly."

Kalli made a face at that. "That wasn't in the official records. The official records were bad enough. I couldn't believe, when I found out... Abigail was such a sweet girl.. Beatrice was a competent warrior... But I never..." Kalli sighed.

"They're your family," Sharra said. "Admittedly in a strange fashion but nonetheless. I can't even claim that and I was perfectly willing to do what you did to make sure they wouldn't keep up their pursuit of their so-called 'perfect being'. How many others would have died because of their little project? 'Experiments' or the ones who got in their way? You did the right thing, even if that's not always the 'nice' thing."

"I don't know what happened to Beatrice... reports say she fell into an unstable jump hole... that was hardly their fault I suppose... but Abigail? Why did Abigail have to die at the age of ten? They said it was unexpected heart problems... They said they'd try again, the next one would be better... but Beatrice was deformed, she never let it slow her down, though... Why did I not see what they were doing sooner?"

"Sometimes it's tough to see when something's too close," Sharra replied quietly. "And they played on a part of what makes any species a bit irrational in that regard, the urge for family and companionship. Maybe you could have stopped them sooner if you'd been more alert to their actions, but then where would Zillah be as the last of their Jordan line, hmm?"

Kalli sighed. "I'm not going to play what-ifs now, though. Maybe things would have been better. Maybe not. I don't know. That a child turns out well does not excuse rape."

"No, it doesn't," Sharra agreed. "And you can take that example here, as well. You dealt with the scum behind the crime and now... well, now you have some family that'd probably be pretty glad to see you. I know they enjoyed the last visit out to see Felicia, and we'll probably drop in on Tijuana to see Abram and Emily." She grimaced. "Sometime."

"Zillah's here?" Kalli asked, perking up a bit. "I went out to C-35 looking for her, and they said she wasn't there... and when they called her a 'failure' I'd feared the worst until I realized just what they meant by it..."

Sharra smiled and shook her head. "No, no need to worry, Zillah's fine, despite the Cybions in question almost having snared her away a bit ago. She's spending a little time with other children and a teacher for her psychic abilities, at least a few days while Jenna and I take a good solid look around the station."

Kalli visibly relaxed and said, "Good. That's good. I'm glad to hear it. Her psychic abilities? Well, if I'm any indication of that, she's a good way to go, and she's got more El'dari DNA in her than me, too."

"I'll do what I can..." Sharra smiled ruefully. "But all that really amounts to is watching over her and getting her what help I can find. You, on the other hand..." She looked thoughtfully at Kalli, going back over what had just been said, the went on quietly, "Maybe you'd be a better choice."

"I just spent the last few months getting training on my own psychic powers myself..." Kalli said with a smirk.

Sharra snorted lightly. "Well, it was a thought. Just keeping an eye out for what would be good for her in the long run." She shook her head, remembering Zillah complaining about people doing things 'for her good' and similar reasons... but that _was_ what people did when they cared for someone else!

"And judging by what I hear on the cybernet, what _she_ wants to do involves flying around doing dangerous and ill-advised things and getting into trouble, unless I miss my guess."

Sharra chuckled quietly. "Don't believe everything you see on the cybernet... though, to be honest, that's not _too_ terribly off the mark. She's been kept in check a little in that regard, even if she isn't always happy about it, and is keeping up with her learning, so she isn't doing too badly."

"That's good. That's good. I suppose I'll have to go see her before the next crisis erupts, eh? Jenna's with you too?"

"She's taking her tour of duty at the local dive," Sharra grinned. "I managed to duck that particular assignment this time. Drop them a message, I'm sure they'd be glad to see you, meet on the Firefly if you like. It's private and safe enough, and has a bit more room than your average small ship."

"Firefly? That's a new one to me. That a ship you brought here from wherever it is you're from?"

"No, a ship I had designed right in Transylvania," Sharra replied. "admittedly on a principle similar to another ship from my dimension of origin. You should give it a test-flight with Zillah and Jenna, I think you'll probably enjoy it."

"I'm rather fond of my Darknova myself, for all the little adjustments Asura's made to the thing..."

"Yes, I heard a lot about that one when looking around for a designer," Sharra replied. "Unfortunately his location was somewhat fuzzy when it came down to it, so I went with the next name on the list. Quite a remarkable bit of work, really, but..." She shrugged and straightened, stretching. "You have family to see to, and that's a lot more important than talking hardware. I'll leave you to it."

Kalli chuckled, inclined her head to Sharra, and stood up, brushing herself off and headed off toward the school.

Sharra watched the woman go, then dropped a note to Zillah and Jenna to expect a familiar visitor in the near future. She smiled quietly, shook her head, and padded off to resume her ambling patrol. As good a time as any for a few day break, she thought to herself, then set the thought aside and left them to their reunion in peace.


End file.
